Did you know that China is like a huge factory of natural stones? It is the second-largest exporter of marble products (including waterjet medallions), even surpassing Italy. By this, you are already wondering why.
The answer?
Chinese natural stone products are of great quality at a much more affordable price and it is named as the World Factory. This is what makes countries like the United States and Europe import marble products from China.
If you want to start importing waterjet marble medallions from China, these are the simplified steps:
- List and narrow down your Chinese factory choices
- Inform yourself of the basic Chinese trade laws and of your country’s
- Pick your final supplies in China
- Place your orders
- Perform quality inspection
- Calculate the landed cost
- Set the products for shipment
We encourage you to read this article up to the end for more specific information about the methods.
7 Steps to Get Waterjet Medallion from China
1. Narrow Down Your Chinese Factory of Choice
Other guides will tell you to do this step after you have reviewed trade laws and calculated your landed costs. But for us, you need to see the variety of factories first to know if you will continue to import waterjet marble medallions from China or not.
As we mentioned in the introduction, there are a lot of stone factories in China that have waterjet-made products, especially in the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong.
You can find out the factories or stores online by searching directly on Google or by visiting the following websites:
| Stone Contact | A B2B (business to business) website for the stone industry where we can see suppliers from around the world. In this case, pick China as the source country. |
| Made-in-China | This website has different products for the industrial and construction fields; not just stone. But as the name says, all the products on this website are made in China, including waterjet marble medallions. |
| Alibaba | Global suppliers for different products are on this website and they have been verified for the safety of the customers. |
The stores on these websites also have their own websites, should you want more details about them or you want more assurance about their legitimacy.
From this step, you want to pick two or three suppliers that you believe are the best choices to import waterjet marble medallions from.
2. Double-check the Trade Laws of China and Your Country
Considering China is the second largest exporter of natural stones, it means that the country welcomes supplying other countries with waterjet marble medallions.
With regard to your country of destination, ensure that you secure the necessary documents for the process. We suggest creating a comprehensive checklist so you won’t miss anything while fixing the papers and permits.
Also, keep yourself posted with import restrictions—especially the ones brought about by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) if any.
3. Choose Your Final Chinese Factory
In the first step, we asked you to narrow down your choices of Chinese factories. In this stage, you have to pick your final supplier who can provide you with the waterjet marble medallions that you are looking to sell.
If you are planning to have more than one supplier, it is also up to you. Let’s say you already picked factory A but found a beautiful medallion design in factory B, you might want to acquire products from both.
Don’t worry if you are struggling; we will also give tips on how to pick the perfect supplier that you need.
- Check the reputation of the supplier. It is crucial to know:
- how long the company has been in the industry;
- its permits and licenses in China and as an exporter (on certain websites like Made-in-China, these are visible), and;
- the reviews of their services.
- Assess the value of the product by price and quality. Be keen on how the factory manufactures the waterjet marble medallion and what materials they use aside from marble if any.
They should include this information on their websites, but you may also contact the supplier to inquire about it.
Of course, you will also have to consider the price per unit if it is reasonable for the product. Remember, value is both the quality and cost, not just the latter.
- Ensure that the supplier is reliable and responsive. Reliability is important in picking a factory, especially for something as precious as waterjet medallions. Therefore, the supplier must be reliable when they say that the product’s quality is consistent.
The supplier must also be responsive to inquiries and concerns because this is where you can see if they are transparent with what they advertise.
- Asses the speed and flexibility of the supplier. Working with a supplier that produces products quickly is an advantage, and so is a supplier that is flexible to changes or unprecedented events.
But of course, as their client, you also have to be responsible and be clear from the very beginning of your agreement. It is not appropriate to suddenly change your idea of the waterjet marble medallion’s design when they are already manufacturing it.
- Ensure the financial security of the supplier. This is an important step and it goes with checking the supplier’s reputation.
A sufficient cash flow shows that the manufacturer can give you results and that they won’t go out of business in the middle of your agreement.
4. Place Your Orders
Once you have accomplished the first three steps and you feel satisfied with the supplier’s overall reputation, you may proceed to place your orders from them.
Make sure to be clear with the details such as the:
- size
- dimensions
- colors
- design
- pieces
Ensuring that the specifications are in order will help the production process go smoothly.
5. Perform Product Quality Inspection
Inspecting the product’s quality is essential to ensure that the products you will receive are on par with the standards. There are four ways to perform this.
- Ask the supplier to send pictures of the product.
- Ask the manufacturer to send you a product sample. This is possible for the majority of stone product suppliers but with a cost.
- Ask a sourcing or buying agent to participate in the inspection. A sourcing agent is a person who can buy the waterjet marble medallions on your behalf.
With this, the agent can also be the one present during the quality inspection so you can be sure that the items you are buying are not defective or damaged (not even slightly).
- Visit China to participate in the quality inspection. If you have the time and means to visit the factory itself in China, then you can better inspect the quality of the medallions that you are going to import.
6. Calculate Your Landed Cost
The landed cost is the overall cost of importation from the factory in China to the place of destination. This usually includes the following below:
- price of the waterjet marble medallions
- shipment costs
- insurance costs
- custom duties
If there will be money spent aside from what we enumerated above, then we will include that in the landed cost.
Never skip this step as this is essential in setting the price for the products once you see them and it lets you know why you are spending such an amount of money in the business.
7. Arrange the Products for Shipment
Finally, we have reached this stage. Once you have settled everything with the supplier and you are certain that you haven’t skipped any of our steps behind, you may now set the shipment for the waterjet marble medallions.
While the supplier already knows about this, ask them nicely to secure the products so no damage will occur in their transit.
Conclusion
China is rich in natural stone products and there are numerous factories in the country that can be your supplier.
To start sourcing natural stone products from China, you want to select factories that you believe have what you need, then pick a final one as your supplier. It is also good to check the trading laws of both China and your country before placing your order.
After performing the quality inspection on products, calculate the landed cost so you will have an idea of how much you will have to spend (and earn back once you get the products to the market). When ready, arrange the stones for shipment.
